New Delhi: Targeting the Congress leadership, BJP chief Amit
Shah Monday said AgustaWestland case accused Christian Michel’s mention of
“Mrs Gandhi” has brought the truth about the opposition party and the
“Gandhi family” out before people. In a statement, Shah said the
“friendship” between Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the
AgustaWestland deal, and the Congress’ top leadership is “time tested and
deep”. He also asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to seek apology from
the country for the AgustaWestland “scam”, a reference to the alleged
corruption in the purchase of VVIP choppers during the UPA government’s
tenure.

The Congress
has accused the BJP and the government of “manufacturing” lies in the
AgustaWestland case, and said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi never interfered in
any defence deals during the UPA regime. “The government and the BJP are
misusing agencies to manufacture lies. I am surprised to know that the present
government is spreading lies….is trying to manufacture something out of
nothing,” former defence minister and senior Congress leader A K Antony
said. Hitting back, Shah said it has
become a habit of the Congress and its leaders to speak brazen lies to deny the
truth.

Leading the BJP’s nation-wide campaign against the Congress, he tweeted, “Trails of the AgustaWestland Case.the SOS of Christian Michel. Does anyone know why Christian Michel passed on the details of questioning on Mrs Gandhi to his lawyer? Did he want them to be passed on to Mrs. Gandhi herself? Why?” It needs to be known what the relationship between Michel and Mrs Gandhi is, he said. Shah said Michel’s lawyer had admitted that the alleged middleman indeed passed on a paper to him and claimed that he thought it was a list of medicines. The BJP president took an apparent swipe in a tweet at the Gandhi family, saying that people have heard of “Zandu balm and Tiger balm (medicines used to relieve pain) but what is this ‘Family Balm’ that every middleman wants”.

“In any
case, what must be told again and again is the Congress background of Michel’s
lawyer. The so called expulsion remains a sham. He remains the conduit between
Michel and Mrs Gandhi!” Shah said. The Congress had expelled Aljo K
Joseph, an office bearer in its youth wing, after he appeared as a counsel for
Michel. “In national interest,
Michel’s lawyer must tell us about the existence of documents of 2008, which
make a reference to Mrs Gandhi. Evidently, the friendship between Michel and
one family in India is time tested and deep,” Shah further said.

While on the
one hand the Congress is working to save the likes of Michel, on the other, the
government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is striving to save the money
looted from the country, he claimed. A
Delhi court had Saturday imposed restrictions on Michel, the alleged middleman
in the purchase of VVIP choppers during the UPA’s tenure, meeting his lawyers
in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody. The directions were given after the
probe agency said he was misusing legal access by passing chits to the
advocates asking them how to tackle questions on “Mrs Gandhi”. The
agency also claimed that he has spoken about the “son of an Italian
lady” and taken “Mrs Gandhi’s” name in reference to a query. The
BJP has used this disclosure to attack the Congress, especially the Gandhi
family.